Liu Xiaobo

ABOUT LIU XIAOBO

Writer, literary critic, and human rights activist who railed against communist one-party rule in China. He spent two years in prison, followed by two other prison terms, all for inciting subversion. In 2010, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for human rights in China.

He received his BA in Literature in 1982 and had moved on to his doctoral studies by 1986. During the 1980s, he taught at international universities, such as Columbia University and later returned to China to support the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

He has been described by Western media as China's most prominent dissident and their most famous political prisoner. All his work was eventually banned in China. His first book, Criticism of the Choice: Dialogs with Li Zehou, was published in 1987 and became a bestseller.

He was born in the Changchun, Jilin province. Both parents were teachers and intellectuals. He had four brothers. He married Tao Li in 1982, and their son Liu Tao was born in 1985.

He argued against Mao Tse Tung 's philosophies.